What Is a Windows Service?

Windows Services are applications that can be automatically started when the operating system boots. They can run without having an interactive user logged on to the system. You can configure a Windows Service to be run from a specially configured user account or from the system user account - a user account that has even more privileges than that of the system administrator.

Important 

Windows Services run on Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003.

Tip 

Unless otherwise noted, when we refer to a service, we are referring to a Windows Service.

Here are a few examples of services:

• Simple TCP/IP Services is a service program that hosts some small TCP/IP servers: echo, daytime, quote, and others.

• World Wide Publishing Service is the service of the Internet Information Server (IIS).

• Event Log is a service to log messages to the event log system.

• Windows Search is a service that creates indexes of data on the disk.

You can use the Services administration tool, shown in Figure 22-1, to see all of the services on a system. On a Windows 2003 server this program can be accessed be selecting Start Programs Administrative Tools Services; on Windows Vista and Windows XP, the program is accessible through Settings Control Panel Administrative Tools Services.

Figure 22-1